That double-digit lead — typically a sign of strong Democratic performance for the upcoming election — is up from the party's 6-point edge in January's NBC/WSJ poll, which was 49 percent to 43 percent, though the change is within the poll's margin of error.

The survey, which was conducted March 10-14, also shows Democrats holding the early enthusiasm advantage: Sixty percent of Democratic voters say they have a high degree of interest in the upcoming elections (registering either a "9" or "10" on a 10-point scale), versus 54 percent of Republicans who say the same thing. In addition, 64 percent of 2016 Clinton voters say they have a high level of interest, compared with 57 percent of 2016 Trump voters.

And among independent voters, Democrats lead in congressional preference by 12 points, 48 percent to 36 percent.

Meanwhile, the NBC/WSJ polls finds that Trump's approval rating stands at 43 percent among all Americans — up four points from January.

Fifty-three percent of adults say they disapprove of the president's job, down from 57 percent two months ago.

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Congressional lawmakers not seeking re-election come 2018

Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA)

Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC)

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)

U.S. Republican Representative Darrell Issa

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-CA)

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA)

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA)

Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kansas)

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID)

Rep. Dave Trott (R-Mich.)

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.)

Rep. John 'Jimmy' Duncan (R-Tenn.)

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Rep. Kristi Noem (R-South Dakota)

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Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas)

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Rep. Steve Pearce (R-New Mexico)

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Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio)

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Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J.

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Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX)

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)

Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-New Jersey

Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Florida

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Rep. Pat Meehan, R-Pa.

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Sen. William Larkin (R-NY)

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.)

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The improvement for Trump comes from Republican respondents (who went from 78 percent approve in January to 84 percent this month), white men (52 percent to 59 percent) and independents (33 percent to 45 percent).

"Trumpism may well help Donald Trump in his 2020 election, but the buck stops there — which is a flashing red light for Republicans in 2017 or 2018," says Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who conducted the poll with GOP pollster Bill McInturff.

Still, Trump's overall approval rating at 43 percent is the lowest for any modern president at about 14 months into his job.

"Survey to survey, numbers bounce around. But today's state of play continues to tell the same story — a president with lower than average job approval starting his second year with a Democratic edge in the midterms," says McInturff, the Republican pollster.

The live-caller NBC/WSJ poll was conducted March 10-14 of 1,100 adults - nearly half reached by cell phone - and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.0 percentage points. The margin of error among the 930 registered voters is plus-minus 3.2 percentage points.